Anti-Temperament
by Aquila-de-Sakura
Summary: When you tear someone out of their alignment what's left? A collection of ficlets revolving around each of the main characters, exploring who they are when their world view betrays them. Based on the four temperament ensemble.
1. Sanguine

Sanguine

The night that Sugar Rush was plugged in was brimming with excitement. Princess Vanellope did her best to quell her subjects' eagerness despite the fact she could hardly keep still on her throne.

"Now your Highness." Sour Bill warned in a tone that showed his fatigue of having to monitor the ruler of a kingdom of nine-year-olds. "You have to make sure you've taken care of all the preparations before roster race."

"I know, I know Jeeves; but I just can't wait to get out there and show everyone what's in my code! Do you think the players will like us? I sure hope they like us."

"Princess, I'm only looking out for your best interests." Vanellope started pouting causing him to sigh with a patient grin. "But they're going to love our game, I'm sure of it. Especially with all the hard work you've put into it."

Vanellope giggled as she bounced off her throne and curtsied to him. "Thanks Sweet n Sour, you always know what to say to me."

"Yes well-!" Before he could finish his thought, Sour Bill's eyes became wide as he was sliced in two, collapsing before Vanellope.

Her eyes blinked slowly in shock, the scattered pixels that landed on her cheeks quickly fading . "S-S-Sour Face?" She blinked again as she stared at his remaining code, unmoving, on the castle floor. "…Bill?" She whispered.

"Well that was simple, then again, racing games don't have much in the way of defense mechanisms."

Vanellope's heart began racing as she heard the unfamiliar voice behind her. "W-W-Who are you?" She asked with a shaking voice as she turned around to see a shadow with glowing yellow eyes and a giant red "T" on its head.

The shadow grinned, "You've got me stumped little missy," His arm lunged out and gripped Vanellope's cheeks as he coiled himself behind her, leaning in to whisper close to her face. "I'm not entirely sure just yet."

She rasped out words, struggling against his grip to no avail. "Guards…"

He shook his head. "Taken care of, or did you really think cream puffs made the best security?"

"W-Why?" The young princess begged, tears beginning to flow from her eyes. "W-We haven't done anything! We were just switched on!"

"Nothing personal," He shrugged. "It's just more convenient this-"

Seeing a small window of opportunity, Vanellope stomped on her captor's foot as she blindly took off.

"Feisty little girl aren't we?" His voice echoed through the corridors.

* * *

As Vanellope ran through the long hallways the figure's laughter seemed to come from every direction. She kept running, her breath becoming quick pants, as she headed higher, higher in the castle. Eventually she ended up in a room that was unfamiliar to her. The room felt cold and large causing her to take slow steps; just, something about the strange area felt forbidden.

"You honestly didn't think you could beat me in a race did you?" The shadow asked from the doorway, his grin now a serious expression. "I **never **lose a race," He said lowly, stepping out from the shadows.

Vanellope screamed as she frantically backed away from the figure slowly moving towards her.

"Do you know what this room is? It's a place that all main characters have subconsciously programed into their code. A backdoor if you will. It's no surprise that this is where you would run to for sanctuary."

"You followed me here. Was that your plan all along?" She asked defensively.

"Insight, wasn't expecting that." He approached her bending down to her face level. "Speaking of which, I don't believe I caught your name."

"Tell me yours first."

"Power trade, interesting. I am Turbo."

She turned away, refusing to look at him. "…Vanellope. Von Schweetz."

Turbo moved causing Vanellope to flinch, he calmly took the small crown from her head. "And just who are you Vanellope?"

"I'm…ruler of Sugar Rush."

"Impressive. A big job for a nine-year-old."

Vanellope refused to say anything else. The mix of fear, frustration, and anger in her mind made her feel ill.

"I think I'll hang on to this."

"Why? You want to be a pretty, pretty princess?"

He smirked as he pushed her back farther into the room.

Vanellope struggled to keep her ground but as she went back a little farther into the space she felt a sharp jolt traveling through her body causing her to collapse.  
Turbo simply walked past her into the strange space without any harm. He looked back as if daring Vanellope to follow him. She shuddered as she slowly got up, but as she tried to move closer her pixels began shortening out and rebelling against her.

"Careful now, you don't want to become corrupted code do you?" Turbo turned back to his goal, the door at the end of the room. As he approached it he reached into a mysterious hammer space pulled out a large, rectangular controller. He plugged it into the door as he pulled out a napkin with a code scribbled onto it. "Up, up, down, down, left, right…" Turbo mumbled to himself.

"Stop! Please!" Vanellope begged.

She was ignored as Turbo finished the code and the door opened to a dark sphere filled with glowing blocks.

Vanellope looked up, eyes wide. "What…?"

Turbo wasted no time jumping into the space. "Finally! The backbone of any game, the base code; this is all going so perfectly!" He looked around for anything to create new data with, but failed to find anything. He shrugged as he went into the NPC data, pulled out a small block, and began tampering with it.

Short jolts ran through Vanellope's head. "Agh! What are you doing?!"

Turbo then plunged his hand into his chest. Vanellope could hardly believe her eyes as tiny remnants of data leaked from his form while he began pulling something out. He grinned madly as he forced the foreign code into the block, watching it transform. He clutched the hole in his chest as the new code was accepted in the game and he began transforming into a new character.

Vanellope's sight started to become blurry. "Who are…?" The unfinished inquiry began to take form as her mind attempted to recall, what seemed like, the answer to the easiest question in the world.

"King Candy." The new character answered with a hint of pride in his tone. "The best racer in all of Sugar Rush."

Vanellope shook her head. "No…No… You're not a racer…"

King Candy blinked as he re-examined the code. He tried to change aspects of it but the title, NPC, would not leave the block. "Huh, so the race roster is predetermined, looks like we're going to have to fix that."

"No."

He turned to see Vanellope attempting to stand as she supported her throbbing head.

"I can't let you get away with this. Its…Its my responsibility…"

"Well that's a little much for a little girl to worry about, how about I help relieve you of that burden?" King Candy then found her code box and began haphazardly tearing out the wires.

Vanellope's pupils shrank as she screamed out in pain. "NOOOO! STOP! PLEASE STOP!" Her code began flashing and glitching wildly. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

King Candy then tried to attach the ripped wires into his code but they didn't seem to fit. He looked around as he saw various boxes of code blinking. "Hum, I guess paradox fail-safes have improved since my day." He started cleaning up the broken code as Vanellope tried to literally pull herself together.

"…Why? Why are you doing this?"

"It doesn't concern you."

"But I'm…I'm…"

King Candy ushered the last bit of code, 'Racer's Memories,' into a tight trap as Vanellope tried to recall the ghosts of concepts that used to be so familiar to her.

"I'm…?"

"A glitch." The king replied solemnly, stepping out of the cold room as the door closed behind him. "A mistake that wasn't supposed to exist."

Vanellope looked down at herself, her fingertips rubbing an old sweater that seemed new. She looked up at the king with timid eyes. "…What am I doing here?"

"Isn't that the question we're all asking ourselves?" He turned away from her. "…You don't remember?"

"No… Remember what?"

He began leading her out of the room. "That tomorrow is our big day and we can't risk you crashing."

Vanellope blinked, "I won't crash! I'll be a great racer!"

"Racer!?" King Candy sputtered, "I mean, Vanellope, where did you get such an idea? I'm not worried about you crashing a kart, I meant you crashing the game."

"What? But I won't…"

"My dear," King Candy took out his cane and began jabbing her, causing her to pixelate and twitch. "With your…condition, it can spell the end of us before we even begin. Certainly you don't want to put us all at risk do you?"

"B-But I… You can give me a chance right? I w-"

King Candy ignored her as he whistled. "Thour Bill!"

"…Yes?" A monotone, seemingly lifeless, sour ball stepped out from the shadows at the king's call.

"Please escort this girl from the castle."

"As you wish." He walked over to Vanellope preparing to lead her out, but as the two made eye contact their eyes widened.

"Hey aren't-?" "Hey you…" They both gawked as King Candy took notice and walked in-between them.

"Nevermind! Thour Bill, take her to my fungeon!"

They both looked at him in confusion.

"Fun dungeon. What? A king can't have a thenth of humor?"

Vanellope argued back, "What?! But I didn't do anything!"

Sour Bill slowly walked towards her, attempting to lead her to King Candy's "fungeon" only for her to wrestle from his grasp and push him away. As she made contact, Sour Bill's pixels started to distort in rhythm with her own causing her to freeze.

"See Vanellope, this was what I was trying to prevent."

"But I-I didn't… I didn't mean to-!"

"Of course you 'didn't mean to,' but that doesn't change the fact that it still happened. What I'm trying to do is for your own good Vanellope."

Vanellope backed up in panic then suddenly sprinted down the hallway, trying to leave the castle.

"Guards!" King Candy called, "Don't let her escape!" As the gaggle of baked goods gathered to give chase, King Candy turned his focus back to Sour Bill who was examining himself after the recent episode. "Thour Bill!"

He shuddered briefly, "Y-Yes Sir?"

"Make sure the word gets out on the Glitch! We can't have her risking the safety of our game!"

"Right away Sir." He replied, back in his monotone pitch.

Meanwhile, Vanellope managed to lose the guards by fleeing into the Candy Cane forest and hiding in the center tree surrounded by a small marsh. As she looked up she could see the other racers running their cars, raising dust clouds on the track.

A lone tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm…I'm…" She sniffed, trying to recall the thought her mind was desperately trying to dig up. "I'm…not a glitch." She mumbled to herself as she buried her head in her arms and cried.


	2. Phlegmatic

A/N: Slight crossover with a certain villan from MLP:FiM, but knowledge of the series isn't necessary.

Phlegmatic

It was a new day in the game of Fix-It Felix Jr. and all the characters got in their places. Ralph sat on his stump on the sidelines, waiting for a quarter alert, when he looked over and didn't see Felix on the other side. He was confused for a moment, but he shrugged it off.

After a couple of hours the opposite side remained uninhabited. Before Ralph could explore, one of the nicelanders opened their window and wondered aloud. "Where's Felix?"

"Uhh?" Was the only answer Ralph could come up with.

The nicelanders remained in starting position but began whispering to themselves. Finally Gene spoke up, "He's probably just having a rough day, he'll be here, he wouldn't let us down."

Ralph mentally sighed, _"Count on Gene to defend him. But seriously, where is he?"_

Fortunately, it turned out the arcade was rented out for a birthday party and the Fix-It Felix Jr. game went untouched for the day. Once the 'Arcade Closed' call was given all the nicelanders immediately headed to Felix's apartment in worry. Ralph was about to join them, but as he looked up he noticed that Felix's place remained dark. He then turned and headed to Game Central Station.

When Ralph emerged from the tunnel he was welcomed by the usual chaos of the many game characters running to and fro throughout the station, but as he looked around he noticed one certain figure standing still in the center of the room.

"Felix? I've been looking everywhere for you! Thank goodness!" The figure didn't respond leaving Ralph confused. He approached him carefully. "…Felix?"

The figure failed to answer.

As Ralph got closer he noticed something different about him, "Did you…buy a new shirt?"

The figure mumbled something.

Ralph failed to catch it. "Well, you're looking' a bit grey there Buddy. Maybe you ought to hop on over to Dr. Mario's office, I think you might have some dead pixels."

"What do you care?"

"Huh?" Ralph frowned, sure that the biting tone he just heard from the repairman was from his imagination.

Felix suddenly turned around and faced the demolition character with a sharp glare in his eyes. "Well? Need me to fix another one of your messes as usual?"

"Felix, what…?" Ralph blinked as he noticed the dark circles as well as the scowl on his friend's face. "What is going on?"

Felix ignored him as he began to walk past him.

"Hey, Felix! Felix!" Ralph called out as he followed him. He caught up to him just as he headed into Tapper's terminal. "What's wrong with you?" Ralph demanded as he began to feel annoyed at his friend's newfound attitude.

"I need a drink." He replied simply as he boarded the tram.

"You don't drink." Ralph answered, crossing his arms. The tram pinged signaling its departure, but Ralph grabbed Felix before it could take off.

"What are you doing!?" Felix argued as he squirmed in the larger man's grip. "Let me go!"

"Not until we figure out your deal. Come on, we're going home."

"No…No!" Felix started fighting against Ralph's hold, punching and smacking at the man's face; much to his chagrin. "Let go of me you….you…ogre!"

Ralph scowled as he begrudgingly brought the smaller man back to their game, glaring at the other characters that dared to gawk at their scene. He had to pause every so often in order to readjust his hold on the repairman when he slipped free, and, eventually, ended up dragging the man back kicking and yelling.

Neither of them noticed the golden hammer that lay forgotten in the center of the station.

* * *

_Felix got up early and cheerful as he did every morning. He whistled brightly as he combed his hair, straightened his blue collar shirt, and made sure all his tools were in the right places. Once he made sure everything was perfect he stared into the mirror, the giant smile on his face twitching._

_"Today's going to be another great day. Yesiree Bob, you're going to help all the nicelanders today, do your job, be strong for your friends, and make sure everyone has a smile on their face at the end of the day. Right?"_

_He paused as if waiting for a response._

_"That's your job after all, Fix-It Felix Jr., it all rests on you to make sure everything goes a-ok. It's all up to you." _

_His teeth gnashed against each other._

_"It's all on you. If anything goes wrong you have to fix it. If things don't go according to plan you have to fix it. Fix it, fix it, fix it! After all, what good is Fix-it Felix Jr. if he can't fix it?"_

_By the time he was finished with his usual morning mantra he looked into the mirror and realized he had a sad, almost broken look on his face. _

_"Well, this won't do." He mused as he pulled out his hammer and smacked himself in the face. "There, that's better!" He said cheerfully._

_Felix pull his hammer back on its rightful place on his belt as he prepared to leave his apartment, but before he could, a soothing voice came from the mirror._

_"Leaving so soon?"_

* * *

As the tram housing Ralph and Felix returned to Niceland, they were met by the crowd of worried nicelanders and the Q*Bert characters.

Mary met them at the platform, "Ralph! We've looked for Felix everywhere but we-Oh! You found him!" She exclaimed excitedly as a bitter Ralph had to force the titular character out of the tram.

Felix immediately tried to dart back into the car, but Ralph made sure to block his way. "Ralph! Let me through! RALPH!" He argued.

The other nicelanders looked at the scene in confusion. "Um… He's not drunk again is he?" One of them mumbled.

"No, ack!" Ralph grunted as Felix tried to climb over his arm. "I don't know what his deal is today. Help me get him to bed would you?"

The nicelanders were hesitant, but the Q*Bert characters were more than willing to lend their assistance. Eventually they all got him into the building and to his apartment.

"No! No! I don't want to live here anymore! I don't want to do any of your meaningless labor anymore! I don't want to be near any of you!" Felix yelled as Ralph pushed him into the room and closed the door quickly. The doorknob rattled and shook as Ralph tried to hold it closed.

"He doesn't…really mean any of those things he said does he?"

"Of course he doesn't." Gene replied in confidence. "He's just blowing off some steam. Just a rough day, that's all."

Q*Bert looked up at Ralph "#/&%C ?"

" ^&*! P*&$#%P! $$W %H##***!" Ralph bellowed in response as Q*Bert went on his way.

"Where's he going Ralph?"

"He's just going to get Calhoun and I gave him my blessing."

"That's all?"

"And that if he can't find her I swore that I'd dump him in a level 22 tetris game for the night.

Some of the nicelanders chuckled dryly, unsure if he was serious or not.

* * *

_Felix froze in his tracks as he tried to adapt to the metaphorical wrench thrown into his morning routine. "Um…? Is someone…here?" He looked around the room trying to avoid eye contact with the mirror. _

_"It's awfully rude to not face your guest, you know."_

_Felix gulped as he turned to face the mirror. _

_"There, was that so hard?"_

_"U-Um…I didn't mean to be rude friend, I'm just not used to characters greeting me through my mirror. I was just surprised that's all." Felix blinked as he was greeted with his own reflection, "Also, er… I can't seem to see you." _

_Felix's reflection shrugged, "Are you sure you're looking hard enough?"_

_Felix's heart sped up. "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming. I must not be awake yet."_

_The reflection crossed its arms, "Relax Junior, this can't be the weirdest thing you've ever seen."_

_"Well no… I suppose you're right. Pardon me for being a might jumpy, I don't take surprises very well." A sudden realization awakened in Felix's mind. "Wait just a tic, talking mirrors aren't programmed into my game's code!" _

_The reflection awarded him with a slow clap. "Worried are you? I don't see why you would be; after all…" He reached down and held up the golden hammer. "You can fix it can't you?"_

_"Of course I can!" Felix replied in confidence only to realize he was holding his hammer in the same way at the reflection. "Wait, how…?"_

_"Did you forget what reflections are? A clear shadow that mimics you."_

_"Um right…" Felix replied shakily. "Now just hold still, this shouldn't hurt." He warned as he raised his hammer to the mirror. As he brought it down on the glass the familiar 'ping!' sound his hammer made after it fixed something was strangely absent. Felix stared on in surprise when suddenly a small crack appeared on the site of impact, quickly spreading out until the whole mirror shattered. "W-Wait…"_

_"Tsk, tsk, that's seven years bad luck. Think you can handle it?"_

_Felix's lip trembled in shock as he fell to his knees, "But…But I don't break things. I can't… How…?"_

_"Maybe that was the only way to fix the mirror."_

* * *

Ralph left Coily to guard the door as the nicelanders tried to coax Felix out of hiding. He tasked Ugg and Wrong Way to watch the fire escape in case Felix tried to break out as he headed to the terminal to try and catch up with Q*Bert. When he arrived Q*Bert was nowhere to be found but the small tramcar was returning from the station, Q*Bert couldn't have been that fast could he?

The tram turned out to be empty, that is, until Ralph got closer. A small, raven-haired, head popped out. "Hiya Booger-breath!"

"Vanellope!"

She jumped out excitedly. "Let me tell ya this game jumping thing is fun! Each game is so different! Exciting! Like….a cacophony of newness!" She flailed about.

"Hey now, you're just visiting the other games. Game-jumping is when you visit when everyone is trying to do their jobs. Not cool."

Vanellope waved him off. "I know, I know. We don't want a repeat of your precious hero medal incident."

Ralph pouted. "Those were trying circumstances."

"Hey I'm just messing with you big guy. Plus, if you never put your game at risk you would've never met me!" She gestured to herself as if she were a grand prize. "Eh? Eh?"

"…Lucky me." He rolled his eyes.

"Aw, is that anyway to talk to your most royal guest?"

"I knew it'd be only a matter of time before you started milking this 'royalty' business." Ralph's mouth turned upwards into a small smirk as he gave Vanellope a mock bow. "Your majesty."

"That's more like it. A little respect from the peasant folk is all I ask; especially when I come bearing gifts." She reached into her sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a sparkling hammer. "Look what I happened to find!" She grinned like a puppy coming back from its first game of fetch.

Ralph suddenly remembered the situation at hand. "Where did you get that?"

"It was just lying in the middle of game central. I was sure it belonged to Mr. Felix, but it doesn't seem like him to lose something like this."

"Well, he hasn't exactly been 'himself' all day… or all night for that matter." Ralph wondered out loud.

"Isn't this thing important to your game or something?" Vanellope asked in confusion. Her eyes then sparkled with an idea, "You don't think he has extras do you?"

"I don't think so… Wait, why do you want to know?"

"No reason…" She put on her best innocent face.

"Right." He paused, "And why is he 'Mr. Felix' while you give me every random name in the book?"

"Because he's not a stink brain."

"Should've expected that."

"Don't worry Ginger Monkey, you're still my favoritest stinky brain ever."

As they were talking the second tramcar arrived housing Q*Bert and Calhoun. She hopped out of the small car and immediately stood to order, cocking her gun. "Alright Wreck-it, what's the situation here?"

"Err…It's about Felix-"

"Say no more." She answered firmly as she dashed off to the apartments.

"Hey, wait for me!" Ralph called out as he, Vanellope, and Q*Bert took off after her. "And would you put that thing away? Do you *want* scare everyone to death?!"

* * *

_"I'm afraid that doesn't make sense." Felix replied as he observed the shattered glass._

_"It doesn't? Didn't your counterpart make certain things better with his wrecking?"_

_"It was just…circumstance! It wasn't because of him breaking everything in sight."_

_"Oh?" The voice replied in interest, "So you could've done the same thing?" _

_"Well…like I said circumstance. We all had our parts to play during that whole…ordeal."_

_"But were they the right parts? After all, the villain had to save the day while the heroes stood helpless."_

_"T-That's not what happened. We won by working together!"_

_"Is that so?" Fingers snapped as Felix found himself in the middle of an empty Game Central Station. He looked around in surprise as his shadow became smoke that wrapped around him. He tried to shake it off but that only caused the smoke to grow thicker and surrounded him like a fog. _

_Images of memories started playing in the smoke. "Here I see you jumping around in a game you didn't belong in and failing to stop Ralph's escape pod." The scene shifted, "And here's you panicking the moment things started going wrong and accomplishing absolutely nothing."_

_"Well I…"_

_"And here's you being thrown in jail for most of the night. What good did you accomplish there for your game? For the arcade?"_

_Before he could answer the fog swirled and changed._

_"Oh! Here's your enemy having to come to your rescue! And…this is interesting, he saved you by __**wrecking**__ his way in. I guess some good comes from wrecking after all."_

_"I…I never said wrecking was a bad thing."_

_"It's not? Then how can you claim you do a __**good**__ job if his wrecking isn't a __**bad**__ thing?"_

_"Because…Because I'm the good guy…" He replied weakly, his eyes starting to swirl in bright colors._

_"A good guy huh? Are you sure it isn't more like 'a guy who's only good for fixing things'?"_

* * *

The group arrived on the floor of Felix's apartment. Surprisingly, everyone was able to hold down the fort in their absence, despite Felix's nonsensical ranting and fighting the door.

"Oh wow. Good job guys…" Ralph mused in clear disbelief.

"You can talk to him can't you?" One of the nicelanders asked Calhoun in tears, "He doesn't mean what he's saying right?"

"I make no promises." Calhoun said plainly, but saw Ralph shaking his head out of the corner of her eye. "But…err… he…I'll help him." She nodded in confidence as she motioned for Coily to move so she could enter the room. However, before she turned the doorknob she grabbed Ralph's arm.

"Wait! Why do I have to come?"

"What kind of soldier goes into battle alone?"

"The kind of soldier who's married to the…um…Felix?"

Calhoun gave him a commanding look.

Ralph looked away in fear. "Yes ma'am." Vanellope and Q*Bert decided to cling onto him as well. "What are you two doing?"

"What does it look like Soldier Buns? A'doy…"

"% !"

Ralph just sighed, "Is it too late to agree on knocking some sense into him with his hammer?"

Calhoun ignored him. "All right team, lets move in!"

* * *

_Felix shook his head, "That's…that's not all that I am." He blinked, his eyes resuming their normal state. "I'm not just a nemesis to Ralph, we're brothers. I'm not just a hero to the nicelanders, I'm friends with each and every one of them. I'm not from the same genre, the same world as Tamora, but she loves me." Felix smiled proudly. _

_"I guess you're right." The shadow replied in sarcastic defeat. "What hope did I ever have of defeating a __**hero**__? After all, without you, everything would fall apart. That must be quite the burden to carry."_

_Felix blushed, "Well... I do do a lot for everyone, but I wouldn't say it all revolves around me."_

_"Oh really now?" The voice rose in pitch, "So you are a necessary character?"_

_"Wh-uh-I mean is... I have an important part to play, but so does everyone else! Pa always said never get too 'puffed up' in your own abilities or your tool belt wouldn't be able to fit the things it needs."_

_"So you're just saying that some people are more necessary than others?"_

_"That's not…No!"_

_"Well which is it then? Are you necessary or aren't you?"_

_"I'm…"_

_"Could your friends have saved the day with or without you?" _

_He thought of Ralph and Vanellope working together to take down Turbo, of Tamora doing her best to keep the cybugs at bay while simultaneously evacuating the Sugar Rush citizens. _  
_He then remembered himself doing nothing after being the only one to recognize the character he once thought he knew; he remembered being helpless as he almost lost the girl he promised to protect, as well as the man he realized was truly his brother. _  
_He remembered almost getting himself and the woman of his dreams killed due to his panic, and triggering painful memories for her by being too forward. Did he really deserve his friends' kindness? Their forgiveness? Had he truly thought of them, of what they really needed, even once?_

_The shadow, now having the physical form of a dragon-like creature, slithered around the shaken repairman whose colors were becoming muted and dull. "Then again, maybe the question shouldn't be if they need you, it should really be how much you need them. Did __**they**__ even give you the chance to shine?"_

_Felix tightened his fists. "No. They just rushed off, causing more trouble. If Tamora hadn't gone looking for the bugs and woke them all up maybe there wouldn't have been so much panic. If Vanellope didn't just HAVE to show off during a big race we could have fixed her game without destroying half the area. If Ralph…Ralph… just told us what was wrong HE WOULDN'T HAVE RISKED OUR OWN GAME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" _

_The draconequus uncoiled himself from Felix and began to float above him in a relaxed, but pleased pose. _

_"I shouldn't have been there at all! I shouldn't have to clean anyone else's messes! I hate…I hate having to fix everything!"_

_The draconequus spirit chuckled to himself as he departed the gaming world, his work finished. "After all," He echoed, "What is Fix-It Felix Jr. good for if he can't fix it?"_

_Felix straightened his cap and his resolve just as a nine-foot-tall man approached him. "Felix? I've been looking everywhere for you! Thank goodness!"_

* * *

They all walked into the dark room and were surprised to find it quiet. Calhoun signaled everyone to look in the other rooms, but she was the first one to find him sitting still in the kitchen. For that moment she let her guard down just slightly, "…Felix?"

"What part of 'leave me alone' don't any of you seem to understand?!" He hit the small kitchen table with his fist as he kept his head down.

"The part that you aren't telling us." She sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Honey, what happened?"

He quickly brushed her arm away. "Get out."

"Felix-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" He yelled drawing everyone else's attention.

The argument felt familiar to Calhoun, she remembered when she said those exact words to him and he bowed out gracefully. She remembered how she cried alone in the escape pod, hating herself for remembering, and trying not to think about him. Yet, here she was, together with him; the one she promised to obey and cherish. Is this what it was like to be needed?

"No." She answered firmly. "Not this time."

Her answer caused Felix to look up. His eyes were sullen yet glaring daggers at her. "In case you forgot, dear, **I** was the one who got kicked out by **you**. **I**was the one always being pushed around and taking it with a smile, day in and day out. Well those days are OVER!"

"Ok."

Felix blinked, "What?"

"Ok." She repeated as she stood up. "You have a right to be upset, a right to be angry, and if this is how you want to go about doing that then I won't stop you."

"Well…good." He nodded with a hint of confusion in his features.

"But I'm not leaving you."

He stood up and looked away, tightening his fists. "Why not?! Is it because you feel sorry for me? Because I don't have an army cache of weapons at my disposal or can tear down a building with my bear hands?"

"Is that it? You feel…unprepared?"

Felix just chuckled. "What a nice way to say how weak I am. Oh sure, rush into battle, save the day, don't worry about the mess because that's what Felix is here for! Leave him to deal with the little things because that's all he's good for."

"Nobody thinks that about you Felix." Ralph argued, finally coming into the room, stragglers in tow. "We need you."

"Oh, **you** need **me**?" He hopped up and started jabbing his finger at Ralph's chest. "Have you ever stopped and wondered if **I** really needed **you all**?!"

Q*Bert looked up at Felix "\\& #%$?"

Felix refused to return his gaze. "*! &%!"

Q*Bert's eyes widened. "^^#! %^*%?"

"~*! &%!"

Q*Bert looked down defeated as his eyes started tearing up. He quietly retreated behind Ralph.

"FELIX!" Ralph gasped in shock. "You know Q*Bert didn't deserve that!"

"Nothing I said wasn't true."

"That didn't make it right!"

"Like you know a thing or two about being right Ralph! Who cleans up all your messes? Makes a living from your screw-ups? Did you ever stop and think about all I've sacrificed for you? I risked my life for you! I ended up in jail for you! All for someone who turned his back on his own game!"

Ralph was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"No, I don't want to hear it Ralph!"

"I'm still gunna say it! You're right Felix, we take you for granted sometimes and we never realize it. But that doesn't mean you can act out like this! Something is wrong!"

"Nothing's wrong!" Felix rebutted as he turned to leave. As he spun around he realized his way was blocked by Vanellope.

"I don't have time you deal with you Vanellope."

She stared up at him sadly. "Mr. Felix…"

"I don't want to hear it! I'm tired of you all with your forced sympathy and platitudes. Why won't you all accept that I don't *want* you all in my life anymore! I'm better off without you!"

She looked down. "I'm sorry too." Vanellope suddenly jumped up and hit Felix over the head with his hammer. "But what needs to be done needs to be done."

The group looked at her in shock. "Vanellope!" Ralph scolded.

"What? You're the one who said that if nothing worked we should hit him with his hammer."

Calhoun glared at Ralph as he tried not to make eye contact with her. "That's not what I….nevermind, let's just get him to bed."

As they all helped carry Felix to his room they realized his pixels were becoming brighter, returning to their original colors.

"Is this an 8-bit character thing?" Vanellope wondered aloud, pestering Ralph.

Ralph had a look of annoyance on his face at the remark. "First I've seen." He shrugged. "Maybe it was just stress."

As he put Felix in his bed Calhoun took a seat beside him. "I'll stay with him."

Ralph just nodded. "Let us know if he's ok."

"I will."

"And call us if you need help!" Vanellope volunteered as Ralph shuffled Q*Bert and her out.

A few moments after they shut the door Felix's eyes fluttered open. He sat up for a second trying to re-adjust to his surroundings. His gaze drifted the person sitting at his side causing him to immediately hide under his covers and curl up into a ball. "U-Um w-who's there?"

"Sweetums-" Was all that Calhoun had to say.

"Oh! It's you Tamora." Felix sat up but still failed to face her. "I seem to be really tired tonight. I'm sorry."

"That's alright…" She trailed off unsure of how to address the matter at hand. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is pounding something fierce, like something's rattled my marbles." He chuckled slightly as he flinched in pain.

"You should rest then. A person without rest is like a single ox trying to pull a wagon meant for a team of six."

Felix nodded as if he understood as he fell back onto the bed.

"Get your rest soldier." She whispered as she walked out of the room. "You're going to need it."

* * *

Felix tossed and turned in his sleep until he eventually realized that it wasn't coming. He sat up shakily, having to force himself to look forward at his full-length mirror. He blinked, trying to confirm it's unbroken form in his mind.

"Whew…" He breathed out slowly, climbing out of his bed. There was a light coming from the kitchen which he decided to follow. At the other end sat his wife, dressed in more comfortable clothing, sipping a steaming cup of tea. "Um…hi?" He grinned shyly.

She handed him a cup of tea and motioned for him to take a seat. He complied as he clutched the blanket wrapped around him tighter.

"So how are you feeling?"

Felix rubbed his forehead, "Still a bit out of sorts."

Calhoun nodded, "Do you remember anything about today?" She asked directly.

Felix looked down at his tea as he sipped it. He failed to answer. Calhoun just waited patiently for his response. "Do we…have to talk about this now?" He asked in a low, hushed voice.

"How much do you recall?"

His voice was small and guilt-ridden, "All of it."

Calhoun looked looked away, unable to face him. "I see."

"I'm sorry." He dropped the blanket and stared at his hands, shaking. "I-I…I'm sorry. Why did I say those things? That wasn't m-m-" He clenched his fists letting out some choking sobs.

His wife came up behind him and embraced him, burying her face in his back. "Shh…"

"I…I…." He stared ahead in disbelief, "I meant every word." He blinked in shock. "I really…feel this way."

Calhoun stood back up and gently squeezed her husband's shoulder. He laid his hand on top of hers and returned the gesture.

"I don't know what happened to me. How can I face everyone again?"

"They're not what's important right now." She tightened the blanket around him. "What's important is dealing with the things that are bothering you. You can't expect to deal with others if you don't deal with yourself." She leaned her face in close to his, "I would know."

"But…I'm supposed to make things better for everyone. That's my job."

"That's not all that you are."

"I know but…"

"People depend on you Sweetums, and I understand not wanting to fail them. After…After Brad I never wanted to lose any one to a cybug ever again. However, sometimes we forget that we don't have to carry this burden alone."

"I couldn't trouble anyone with my problems. That isn't very polite."

Calhoun mulled over her thoughts for a moment. "Felix, said there was a problem in my game and we ran out of rations for a week. Say, the next time I see you, I was so pale I looked like Death's dining parlor sheets in the middle of a blizzard from the starvation alone and I came by right as you were about to eat your dinner. What would you do?"

Felix gasped at the thought. "I'd give the whole thing to you of course!"

"But I can't take your dinner, then what would you eat? I shouldn't have stopped by at all."

Felix hopped up, "No! You need it more than I do! It's not like I can't make more."

"I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Eh? …Oh." The realization of the point of Calhoun's hypothetical situation suddenly hitting him.

"You enjoy helping people, but sometimes you're going to need help too. That's ok you know."

Felix blinked, Calhoun's words awakening something inside him.

"And it's ok to be…at a tactical disadvantage sometimes; that doesn't make you weak. It lets you support someone who needs it. Without you I might have died in a land made of sugar!"

He allowed himself to giggle lightly at that remark.

"Without you, Vanellope might have never forgiven or trusted Ralph again; or had been able to fix her game at all."

Felix's eyes widened as he pixels became even brighter, reverting to their original color scheme.

"But what matters most Felix, is that you didn't give up on any of us. Not Ralph when he went AWOL, not Vanellope when she couldn't go through the game portal, or on me when I wanted nothing more to do with you. You are needed more as a friend than as a repairman."

He smiled, wiping the tears from his face. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. I-"

He cut her off with a soft kiss.

"Well that's never going to get old." She smirked.

"Thanks Tammy."

She bent down to his level and gave him a calming smile. "Next time, don't forget that I didn't need you, I **chose **you. I decided to help carry your burdens whether you want me to or not."

Felix hugged her tightly as she reciprocated. "I have a lot of apologizing to do later."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand."

"I know, but this time I want to do it for myself. I want them to know that I finally realized that they're there for me." He smiled brightly at her, a genuine smile. "You're all here for me."


	3. Choleric, part 1

Choleric

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the arcade  
Not a character was stirring, not even a knave.  
The games were partying, happy for the break,  
Unaware of the event they would involuntarily partake.  
It would start in the game with the villain who wrecks,  
Said villain would soon face a reality he'd have to accept.

* * *

Ralph tossed and turned in his small shack as he began drifting off to sleep. Right as he felt his consciousness about to slip, a sudden crash was heard at the brick pile behind him. Ralph immediately sat up in shock and slowly made his way to inspect the damage.

"Hello?" He carefully surveyed the smoldering brick pile. "What was that?"

"Oww…" A small ghost whimpered as her two siblings slowly made their way out.

"Pinky? Inky? Blinky?" Ralph remarked in confusion, "What are you guys doing here? The Christmas party ended hours ago."

"Eh? Oh!" Pinky exclaimed in surprise causing Blinky to smack her and Inky to speak up.

"Tonight Ralph, we are not just the Pac-Man ghosts, but we are the ghosts of Christmas three!"

"Oooh~!" Blinky and Pinky howled ominously.

Ralph looked at them in disbelief. "Uh…huh. Well I'm going to go back to sleep. Go bother Q*Bert and them, next block over."

"Wait-Wait! We're specifically here for you Ralph!" Pinky protested. "We have to show you something important!"

"Important? Like what?"

"Like how much you mean to all the people you care about! This year Ralph, you are to receive the gift of 'Life Appreciation'!"

"…What?"

Blinky floated over to him and spun around him quickly. "There. We have now made it like you were never programmed."

Ralph blinked, "Wait what? WHAT?!"

Inky nodded, "This is so you won't feel under-appreciated any more." He grinned knowingly.

"Under-appreciated? I don't feel-"

Pinky giggled, Ralph's words falling on deaf ears. "We'll be back once you learn your lesson!" She winked at him as the three ghosts disappeared.

Ralph tried to grab at them only hitting air. "What lesson?!"

* * *

Ralph searched the brickyard for the pac-man ghosts but his search turned up empty. He decided to retire back to his shack home, but it was oddly missing. "Hey!"

He ran his hand through the place where his home originally was to no avail. He then stepped back and noticed a lot more was missing than just his new house. His stump, as well as Q*bert and friends' block, we all gone as well. Ralph was about to head straight over to the Pac-Man machine to get the new events straightened out when he heard a loud chime in the air.

"Quarter alert? In the middle of the night?"

He readied himself in his usual position, but his familiar word bubble never popped up. Ralph tried shouted his lines, but it was no use as he was sure the in-game camera never panned over to him in the first place.

_"That thing's always been useless anyway."_ Ralph thought. He looked over and saw Felix in position, ready to go.

"I can fix it!" He said proudly, seemingly unaware of the issues that were popping up.

Ralph just shrugged and prepared to climb the building only for his arm to phase through it.

_"No no no no no!"_ He panicked as he desperately tried to grab onto the escape ladder. _"Am I glitching? Is our game broken?"_ He tried a couple more times, but felt no jolts of code disruption. The revelation did nothing to soothe his fears however.

Ralph looked out and saw Felix climbing building still oblivious to what was going on. "Psst! Felix! Hey Felix!" He tried to loudly whisper, but Felix kept going, completely ignoring him.

The ducks came out and started pecking the windows and dropping bricks onto the building.

"Fix it Felix!" The nicelanders complained.

Ralph blinked, confused at the new sequence he didn't recall being part of their code.

Felix did his best repairing the windows, but the player for this round turned out to be rather inexperienced and the game ended quickly. Once the 'Game Over' screen faded away and the player left, the Gene walked out of the building to meet Felix, who had taken a nasty fall due to an unexpected duck.

Ralph walked over to them "Hey guys something weird is-"

"That wasn't the best of games Felix." Gene said sharply, crossing his arms at the repairman.

"I have to admit, that duck took me by surprise there." Felix rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I can't say I can blame the player for that."

"The player? Or _you_? Need I remind you Felix our entire livelihood depends on _you_; unfortunately."

"I'm awfully sorry Gene, them ducks scare me something fierce. I'll do better next time, I promise."

"See to it that you do. I'm afraid I'm going to have to dock you pay."

Felix frowned. "A-Are you sure? That's the third time this month and…"

"If you have time to complain then you have time to do better! Can you even remember the last time you won a hero's medal?"

Ralph clenched his fists. "Hey! That's enough-!" He tried to force Gene to turn around, but his hand passed through him too. His eyes widened.

Felix rubbed his arm, "Well umm…"

"I thought so." Gene sneered. "You know Felix, we know you're the hero of the game and all, but that doesn't matter much if you never win. I overheard some of the tenants talking about moving to the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"I'm sure that's just…talk. Don't go worrying yourself none."

Gene ignored him. "Hmph, I can't say I blame them. Who _doesn't_ want a hero like Mario? At lease he isn't scared of ducks." Gene sighed. "But we're stuck with you Felix. We bake you pies and give you medals just for you doing your _job_. Tell me, is that fair?"

"B-But that's what's in the code. They're all things I need-"

"You _need_? We _need_ you to win Felix! You have one job and you can't even do that!"

Felix rubbed the hammer at his belt, looking down.

"Well, tomorrow's another day." Gene shrugged as he walked back into the building., not giving Felix a second thought.

"Felix!" Ralph argued, "You're not just going to let him say all those things about you are you? You know none of that is true."

Felix just walked into the building slowly and sadly.

"Felix! You can hear me right? FELIX!" Ralph shouted only for Felix to close the door in his face. "That's it." Ralph growled as he headed for the tunnel to Game Central Station.

He wasted no time jumping into the tram. "When I find those little rainbow blobs I'm gonna-" He stopped as he realized the tram wasn't moving. "Oh come on!"

Ralph wiggled the cart, trying to get it going, but eventually gave up as the action was getting him nowhere. He got out, kicked the tram, and headed for the tunnel. Before he could walk in however, he stopped and slowly stuck his arm in fully expecting to be stopped by an impassable wall. He was more than a bit surprised when nothing happened. "Huh. I'm not glitching after all." He remarked as he ran for the station. "So what in Niceland is happening to me?!"

* * *

Ralph eventually arrived in Game Central Station honestly a bit surprised, and relieved, that the place wasn't burning down to the ground due to raining fire and brimstone. He shrugged off the blessing as he made his way to the Pac-Man console.

However, before he could reach the gateway he saw Clyde heading out. "CLYDE!"

The floating orange ghost stopped. "You don't need to yell now. I'm right here."

Ralph blinked, "You can see me?"

"I'm a ghost, I can see lots of things." He remarked casually. "So who are you? A glitch who found his way around the code-confines? A game-jumper who met his untimely end? A paradox character who isn't supposed to exist in this reality?"

"You…see a lot of things don't you?"

Clyde somehow shrugged. "Been around for awhile, you tend to get used to it."

Ralph shook himself out of curiosity, "Clyde, it's me! You know, Ralph? The villain from Fix-it Felix? A regular at Bad-Anon? You know me right?"

"Fix-it Felix has a villain? I thought that game was just overrun by the Duck-Hunt refugees. So I'm guessing you're a dummied-out character?"

"What? No! I'm supposed to be there! I've been wrecking the building for 30 years! You know? Wreck-it-Ralph?"

He thought for a moment, "Oh let me guess, my siblings paid you a visit didn't they? It is that time of year."

"You *know* what's going on? What did those living skittles do to me?!"

"Have you been feeling under-appreciated lately? Like ready-to-give-up-on-your-game level of under-appreciation? It's a little prank they like to pull at Christmas to show characters how much their games need them."

"A PRANK?! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Ralph roared, although Clyde was the only one to flinch from the volume.

"It's only temporary… Ralph was it?" Clyde replied. "Once you learn your lesson they'll reset your code. Don't worry."

"And what is it with this 'lesson' garbage? I don't need to learn a lesson! I already know my worth in my game, I learned that was the whole Turbo incident!"

"You were involved in the Turbo incident? Did he crash Roadblasters in your reality too?"

"Well…yes. But I'm talking about the _other_ incident." Ralph paused as the thought just occurred to him. "…Which you don't know anything about because I don't exist here."

"Huh. Seems you had a busy year. I guess they forgot to unschedule you for this season."

Ralph glared at him. "You ruined my life due to a PAPERWORK ERROR?!"

"Calm down, calm down. You're not the only one who's gone through this, I've placed my bet on Zangief for next year. Besides, give it a night and everything'll go back to normal."

"Why can't you make it normal now!?"

"It's up to my siblings really. The default time is about twelve or so hours, lesson learned or not. If I were you I'd just sit back and enjoy being a ghost. It's not something that happens every day after all."

Ralph raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you been hitting Yoshi's fuzzy stash or something?"

Clyde suddenly blinked in and out of his 'vulnerable mode'. "H-How did you know?"

"Forget I asked."

* * *

Ralph boredly sat around the station waiting for his "Christmas Lesson Time" to end. He observed the various characters skittering around the station, none of which had yet to notice him. Multiple characters had ended up passing through him at certain points and he finally stopped grimacing at the site. It was only when Luigi walked by hosting a vacuum cleaner on his back that Ralph decided to get up and move.

As he was clearing Luigi's path that he came across the small corner that Q*Bert and his gang were inhabiting. He tried to say something, but fell short as he realized it would be in vain anyway. He felt the sharp pangs of guilt as he realized that without his existence they never got to experience the joy of a new game to call 'home'. He quickly turned from them and walked away.

Ralph had considered returning to his home game, but he quickly changed his mind when he remembered that the nicelanders had taken to treating Felix like garbage in his absence. Yet another guilty pang stabbed at his heart. It was then that he noticed two candy characters running home to…

He sighed. "Sugar Rush."

What could've happened to Vanellope in his absence?

* * *

Against Ralph's better judgement he crossed the portal to Sugar Rush. He wasn't completely sure how his morbid curiosity trumped his common sense, but he did know when it came to Vanellope, he just *had* to be there.

He wandered around Sugar Rush quietly, careful to avoid the racing tracks (though, he supposed it didn't matter too much if he stumbled onto one). He kept his gaze up on every candy cane tree, but still no sign of her. Ralph half wondered if, even without him, things still turned out alright here. That Vanellope somehow reset their code by herself and that their game wasn't almost destroyed by cybugs.

The end to those thoughts came quickly when he saw King Candy's familiar Royal Racer quietly zoom past him. Ralph just shook his head and kept going, but what he didn't notice was King Candy throwing an aside glance in his direction.

Eventually Ralph reached Vanellope's old hideout in the still standing Diet Cola Mountain. He sighed as he entered in through the hidden passage. "Vanellope? Vanellope are you here?"

His answer came with Vanellope walking through the passage, her arms full of disgarded candies and cookies she had picked up from the ground. She ran over to her bed and excitedly started putting them up like little Christmas decorations.

She smiled proudly. "Merry Christmas to me!" Her eyes faded a bit. "And only me."

Ralph looked sullen. "Kid, I'm sorry. This isn't how things are supposed to be. If only I was here I-" He put his hand on her shoulder causing her to glitch.

"Ye-ow!" Vanellope jumped back at the sudden jolt and looked around. "Hello?"

Ralph pulled his hand back just as quickly in surprise. "Kid? Can you hear me?"

Vanellope continued to look around. "Is someone here? Hellooo~?" She called out.

Ralph put his hand on her shoulder again. "Vanellope!"

Vanellope tried to see who was behind her, "H-How'd you know my name?" She blinked as her pixels distorted and through the haze she realized she could see someone else standing there. "Who are you? A ghost?"

"Vanellope you can see me!" He tried to grab her in a hug, but she scrambled herself away from him and ended up falling through him.

"Look Booger Bear, I don't know who you are, but you picked the wrong holiday to come by. It's Christmas, not Halloween."

"Vanellope-!"

"And that's another thing! How do you know my name? How long have you been hanging around me? You're creepy!" She kept trying to poke him only for her hand to go through. "This is kinda cool though." She stuck her whole arm in and wiggled her fingers. "Hahaha!"

"Would you stop that and let me explain?"

"I'm listening."

Ralph paused for a moment, "Oh, you…trust me?"

Vanellope shrugged, "It's Christmas. Plus your story might be interesting."

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try…"

* * *

Meanwhile, King Candy paced around his throne room. "Thour Bill!"

"Mmmyes?"

"Do you believe in…ghosths?"

Sour Bill blinked slowly. "…Huh?"

"Nevermind!" He shouted. "I'm heading to the code vault! Bring my licorice rope!"

Sour Bill responded with a heavy sigh. "Yes your Majesty."

King Candy readied himself accordingly at the controller gate, punching in the code as Sour Bill tied the rope around him. As the gateway opened he wasted no time plunging in.

"Now leths see here…" He floated around in the subspace. "Ghosth or not you still have to have thome code buzzing around…aha!" He exclaimed as he noticed a bug-like light jumping around. He plucked it out and brought it to his face. "Oh, I know exacthly what to do with you…"

* * *

Ralph and Vanellope started making their way up the rainbow bridge to the portal to Game Central Station.

"But Ralph! Why do we have to rush?"

"Because we don't have much time! If we're going to make things right we have to do it before the night ends and the ghosts change everything back to normal!"

"Then why do you care? It's not like it's your problem!"

Ralph stopped for a second and looked down. "It's not fair for you. Things shouldn't be like this! If things turn out like this because I'm not here then why shouldn't I try to change that?" He looked up with a grin, "It's not like I'm not here now!"

Vanellope smirked, "I'm sorry was that supposed to make sense?"

"Hush you little crumb-nugget."

"Aye-aye General Deep-fry!" She saluted him as they reached the portal gate. "Ok, you do realize I can't go through there right? Glitch and all?" She gestured to herself.

"I know, I know. Just wait here and I'll get Clyde to get Felix and Calhoun for me. He owes me."

"For the whole mix-up? I didn't think favors included usurping a game's entire monarchy."

"It does when I ask for one. Now just wait here while I-OOF!" Ralph hit an invisible wall and bounced back. "Eh?" He placed his hand on the portal only for a sparking wall to materialize. "Oh no…"

"Oh YESTH!" A figure called out as he drove up behind them. "Going somewhere _glitches_?"


	4. Choleric, part 2

Felix decided to take a stroll around the apartments in the perpetual night that was their game. He explored the edges of their land only to find three familiar ghosts hovering around a discarded brick pile. As he approached them one looked up and noticed him. "Felix!"

"Well hi there Pinky!" He waved and nodded. "Blinky, Inky. What brings you all here tonight?"

Pinky spoke through the 8-bit tears in her big eyes. "Felix, we can't find Ralph! We've looked everywhere! Clyde got mad at us for putting him in 'journey' mode without checking our facts and now we can't find him! How are we going to fix his code?!"

"Slow down, calm down. breathe. That's it." He patted her head with his repair glove. "Now what's going on? You're looking for who?"

Blinky nudged his sister. "Dummy! Of course he doesn't know who we're talking about, we're still in the 'journey' reality!"

"Ah! What are we going to do then? Clyde's going to get really mad, even more mad than before! What if he tells _him_?"

Inky ignored his siblings' bickering and floated over to Felix. "This may be hard to believe, but there is another character in your game. A very important character."

Felix blinked, "An…important character? Like a co-op partner?"

"No. A villain, a bad-guy."

"But he wasn't a _bad_guy! It was just his job!"

Inky sighed. "Yeah, and he was feeling a bit down about his role so we tried to show him how much he's needed."

"This kind of thing tends to make characters' lives brighter around Christmas." Blinky explained, "…The only problem was that we didn't realize Ralph already learned his lesson."

"And now he's gone." Felix guessed. The ghost answering him with a nod.

"Oh Felix," Pinky sighed, "You have no idea what it was like for poor Ralph. He slept in the garbage and all the nicelanders hated him."

"O-Oh is that so?" Felix looked down. "How did…How did I treat him?"

The three ghosts looked at each other in thought. "The same way you treat everyone I guess. Although you did ask him to be your best man."

"Best man?"

"Eh? You're not married in this reality?"

"M-Married?!" Felix immediately blushed. "How different is the 'Ralph reality' from this one?"

"That won't matter much if we don't find him and fix all of this!" Blinky exclaimed. "Oh where could he have gone?"

Felix adjusted his cap and stood up straight, a look of determination on his face. "Leave it to me fellas. I can fix it!"

* * *

Ralph and Vanellope stepped back as King Candy climbed out of the car to greet them. They kept retreating until their backs hit the invisible wall. Ralph defensively put his arm in front of Vanellope to shield her and she instinctively held on to it. The sudden physical contact caused Ralph to look up in surprise.

"I-I'm not a ghost anymore?" He asked feeling his chest for confirmation.

"N~ope!" King Candy answered knowingly.

"What did you do? Mess around with Sugar Rush's code?" Ralph demanded angrily.

"You seem to know some _interesting_things." King Candy mused as he pointed his cane at Ralph. "So who are you? Some rogue thurge protector or thomething?"

Ralph smacked the cane away as he moved forward. "There's a lot of things I know Candy, but first tell me what you did to me or I can promise you it won't end well for you."

"Big words, from a glitch." He smirked causing Ralph to scoot Vanellope behind him. "Got any proof in that puddin' hmm?"

It was Ralph's turn to smirk, "Lets just say I know how much you love to _race_, your 'majesty'." He said with air quotes. "I also know how to reset the code to normal. So congratulations King Candybalism, by making me 'real' you just screwed up your grand scheme here big time."

Vanellope tugged on Ralph's pants. "Ralph I'm not sure this is a good id-"

King Candy glared at Ralph, but then mirrored his smirk. "Oh? You do do you? Are you so sure resetting the code is such a good idea now that you're a part of it?"

Ralph froze, "What do you mean?"

"Oh thure, bring the game back to default, fix all these problems you claim exist, but are you so thure you'll come out unscathed?" He laughed, "I've taken your ghost data Mr…" He looked him over, "…Buffalo-hog-guy, and introduced it to the main program. As the newest addition to Sugar Rush's data not even you could survive a game-wide purge so soon."

"You're lying."

He shrugged. "Care to test your theory? Since you know me so well and all."

Ralph was about to charge at him until he felt Vanellope trying to pull him back. "Ralph! Don't!"

"Well? Go ahead." King Candy stood still and gestured to himself, unarmed. "Continue with your plan."

"Oh we will." Ralph then grabbed Vanellope and made a run for the Royal Racer.

"Ralph! What-what are you doing?!"

"Just trust me!" He yelled as he slid her into the driver's seat and climbed onto the trunk of the kart."

Vanellope rolled her eyes. "This isn't much of a plan genius! You forgot to factor in one thing, _I can't drive_."

"I told you to trust me didn't I?" He argued back as he started propelling the kart forward with his hands. The two of them rolled down the rainbow bridge in a flash leaving King Candy in the dust.

"Well." He said in bemusement. "It's about time I got a new kart anyway."

* * *

Felix walked through Game Central Station with three colorful ghosts in tow. "You guys don't have any leads to where he might have gone?"

The three of them shook their heads in unison.

Felix sighed, "Maybe we should find Clyde…"

"No!" Pinky protested. "We can't tell him we lost Ralph on top of all this! For sure he's going to report us to the big boss!"

Inky looked up at Felix, "Maybe you can find him with your 'connection', he is your counterpart after all. Or at least he's supposed to be."

"My…what? I don't know you guys…"

"We deal with showing characters their connections with everyone every Christmas as well as stop Pacman from devouring all the dots in a level!" Blinky exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure we know a thing or two about connections."

"Well umm…" Felix hesitated as he inched away. "I guess I just don't have as much experience with character connections as you guys d-oof!" He ended up tripping over someone in his confusion.

"Hey! Watch where you're going next time Shortstack!"

"I'm sorry! So sorry ma'am!" Felix quickly got up and did his best to assist the person he bumped into despite the other person's resistance to his aid.

"Just don't let it happen again Peewee." She answered as she got up. "Had a rough day in-game I don't need clumsy repairmen on top of that."

Felix failed to answer as he was awestruck by the lady's appearance. His vision was clouded with misty sparkles and angelic singing in the air. "J-Jimmy-jamminy…"

The soldier was confused at the reaction and tried her best to ignore the scene and go on her way.

Felix held his hand out ready to go after her, but he stopped.

"Felix?"

"No, I can't. Not while we still have a job to do."

"But Felix…"

"It's our duty to fix this-this whatever this is. I can't just sit still while someone I…think…I care about could be in trouble."

"We have no leads though, we're going in blind."

"Maybe not." A certain soldier, still within earshot of the conversation, turned back to them. "It's all a matter of psyche. Why did the person you're looking for run off in the first place?"

"Umm…" Felix turned back to the ghosts, "You said that he was tired of being under-appreciated right?"

"Uhh…?" They answered in chorus.

"Well then, he'd most likely head to the last place he felt like he was appreciated."

Felix's eye sparkled as he jumped up in excitement. "That seems like a good place to start!" He then came back down, "…Where would that be exactly?"

"Oh oh oh!" Pinky bounced up and down, "Sugar Rush! That's the place that you all-! Well…lets just say that's where a lot of stuff happened."

"Great!" Felix pumped his fist in the air. "Let's get going!"

"*Ahem*" The soldier cleared her throat as she activated her hoverboard. "Climb aboard."

Felix looked up at her carefully, "You…want to help us?" He asked with a hopeful grin.

"You rag-tag bunch would give a Major a migraine. The soldier in me just can't let you all go off with the supervision that's gotten you this far. I don't want your code on my hands."

"Well umm…if you went with us and something were to happen, wouldn't our code be on your hands by default?"

She pulled down his hat teasingly. "When I'm in charge soldier, code doesn't leak for no reason."

Felix fixed his hat and stood to attention. "Yes ma'am!"

"You coming or not?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" He scrambled onto the hoverboard with the three ghosts following him. "Thank you ma'am!" He smiled. "By the way, we haven't had our proper introductions yet. My name is Fix-it Felix jrrrrr-AAGGHHHH!" He yelled as she started zooming through game central station.

"Sergeant Calhoun!" She yelled in reply.

"Calhoun~ That's a pretty naaaa~me!" Felix tried to respond and keep his balance on the board at the same time.

Calhoun rolled her eyes at the remark, but gave a small smile when she thought no one was looking.

Pinky giggled at the scene while Blinky just shook his head at her antics.

* * *

Ralph pedaled the kart all the way to the main track. "Wait, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to push you through the finish line and fix the code! We can get rid of Turbo and make you a princess or a president, whatever you want to be!"

Vanellope panicked and looked down, slamming her foot down hard on the brake pedal mere yards from the finish line. The kart jolted suddenly causing Ralph to nearly lose his balance.

"Kid? What was that for?"

Vanellope hopped out of the kart, rubbing her arm. "R-Ralph, I have something I gotta tell ya."

"Can't it wait kid? We're almost there!"

"W-W-Well I-I…" She hesitated and shook her head. "Didn't you hear what King Candy said about the code Ralph? Aren't you scared you might get…purged?"

"I don't believe anything that two-faced not-so-goodbar has to say."

"But what if it's true? You'd take that risk?" She looked at the ground, her voice barely a whisper. "…Just for me?"

Ralph looked down for a moment then lifted up her chin with his finger. "Hey, don't worry about me. No matter what they throw at us, I promise we're going to get through it."

Vanellope couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. "Ralph, the truth is, I-"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE STICKY FINGERS!" The commanding voice of King Candy called out as he and his guards were rapidly approaching.

"C'mon kid it's now or never!" He pulled Vanellope's arm, but she wouldn't budge. "Let's go kid! Kid?"

King Candy and his cronies arrived at the scene and stopped just short at the sight of them.

"Vanellope! We have to go! NOW!"

"Ralph…" Vanellope's eyes starting filling up with tears. "…I'm sorry." She said as a sudden jolt of electricity hit Ralph in the back causing him to shake and collapse to the ground. The source of the attack coming from the small gun Vanellope held in her trembling hands.

The last thing he saw before he passed out was King Candy proudly putting his arm around Vanellope as she looked away in shame.

* * *

Ralph regained consciousness in a dark room. He tried to move his arms, but realized they were tightly chained wall to wall along with the rest of his body. He struggled some more until the door opened allowing light to pour into the room. Ralph looked at the walls, he was met with clownish faces and childish reprimands causing him to sigh in annoyance.

"I see the prisoner is awake." King Candy giggled, the bells on his shoes jingling along. "Welcome Buffalo-hog to my fu-"

"Yeah, yeah funegon. Fun dungeon. I get it."

King Candy pouted, "The introduction is my favorite part!"

"Can it Caramel Cream." Ralph growled, "What did you do to Vanellope?"

King Candy gasped in mock horror at the accusation thrown at him. "Why nothing Vagrant! What Vanellope did was for the safety of her kingdom and was one-hundred percent her decision."

"Liar!"

"Don't believe me?" He stepped to the side revealing a downtrodden Vanellope behind him. "Ask her yourself."

"Kid! Are you ok?"

"…Yeah."

"Did he do something to you? Threaten you? I swear when I bust out of here-!"

"Ralph! …He didn't tell me to do anything. Everything I did was my own choice."

Ralph's eyes widened. "Kid… Vanellope… Why?"

"H-He said he'd let me race. Not with the others or in an official race, but I'd at least get to drive a real kart and-and-!" She bit her lip realizing how frivolous her rewards seemed at the moment.

Ralph panted in disbelief, "So you…" He swallowed, realizing the full irony of his next words. "…You sold me out?"

"It's not like that!" Vanellope protested, "King Candy explained to me why I can't be in a real race, why I can't cross that finish line. I can't put Sugar Rush in danger Ralph."

"He's lying to you kid! It's all just a lie!"

She shook her head, "I can't even take the risk Ralph! Not if it means endangering the game! Or you! Don't you get it? This is the only way to make sure we all stay safe."

Ralph looked down, refusing to face her.

"I was just…trying to help you. …I'm sorry Ralph." She turned around and ran from the funegon."

"Tsk, tsk. putting such a burden on a young child."

"Shut it." Ralph snarled, his eyes practically glowing red. "You know **all** the things you said to her were a **lie**."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"Because I was **there**. **Turbo**."

King Candy paused, then turned to him with a simple frown of disapproval. "Well, it seems you do know some interesting things after all." He then whipped out his cane and jabbed the handle into Ralph's neck, holding up his head. "It is quite funny however, that despite all this knowledge you possess, the first character you run to is my _spy_."

"Spy?!" Was all Ralph could sputter out.

"She was a resourceful little glitch. Evading us time and time again, even managing to build her own kart after we were sure we had barricaded the baking factory. She didn't get too far with that, but then I realized why not work those traits of hers for my own benefit?"

"You're a psychopath!" Ralph exclaimed as he re-attempted to free himself from his chains.

"Why thank you." King Candy gave a quick bow, his eyes glowing yellow. "Now enjoy your stay; there's lots more information I can't wait to hear from you."

Ralph just roared as King Candy slammed the iron dungeon door shut.

* * *

King Candy prepared to leave the dungeon cells when he noticed Vanellope sitting on the stairs that led to the exit. "Something wrong Vanellope?"

"Nothing…"

"You're not having second thoughts about capturing that brutish barbarian are you?"

"No! I mean-"

"What you did was for his own good as well you know. He clearly had some screws loose in the head aha!"

"He didn't seem bad, I think he really cared about me."

"Vanellope, characters like that say anything will get you to trust them. I mean you? A princess? What an imagination!"

Vanellope failed to answer.

"I salvaged his ghost data as best as I could, it may seem cruel now, but I assure you it was for his benefit. It's hard to make tough decisions like this, aren't you glad you're not a princess or president or whatever he claimed?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe some day we'll find a way to…rehabilitate him, but for now I advise you to stay away. He has quite the temper on him and his code is still unstable, I don't want you getting hurt."

"Uh…uh-huh."

"That's a good glitch." He patted her head roughly and went on his way.

Vanellope followed suit, leaving the castle, and soon breaking into a sprint until the palace was out of sight. She found a lone candy cane tree in the middle of a swamp and climbed it. Once she reached one of the highest branches she pulled out a star-shaped sugar cookie lightly covered with yellow icing that she had found earlier that day, before she ran into Ralph.

"I made a Christmas wish on you; for you to send me a guardian angel. It wasn't Ralph was it?" She held the star up, "Of course not, wishes don't come true. This is stupid!" She was about to throw the star away when she suddenly saw a black hoverboard zoom through the air only to make an abrupt landing on a nearby hill. She quickly jumped down the tree and gave chase.

"Oh…my…land…" Felix gasped, "This game is huge! How are we going to find him?!"

Calhoun immediately began scouting the area while the three Pacman ghosts tried to regain their bearings.

"Looks like we're just going to have to find some friendlies and drill the information out of them."

Felix flinched, "U-Umm…surely we won't have to go to such extremes will we?"

"Of course not." Felix and the ghosts breathed a sigh of relief. "It all depends on the locals' willingness to say what we want them to say."

The three ghosts blinked into 'vulnerable mode' at the mention of Calhoun's methods. Pinky was first to blink out. "W-Wait, I'm not so sure the characters here may have seen him."

Felix thought for a second, "Oh right! Ralph's still in 'ghost' mode right?"

"Ralph?" Vanellope accidentally blurted out alerting the group of her presence. "Uh-oh…" She immediately ran off only for Calhoun to give chase and quickly capture her by the hood. "Looks like we have a little spy here."

"Let me go! Let me go!" She struggled as Calhoun dragged her back to the group.

"Perhaps this place isn't the sugary coated gumdrop paradise it seems to be."

"N-Now Miss Calhoun, ma'am. Maybe she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She's just a child after all."

"Yeah!" Vanellope argued, "I'm just your run-of-the-mill kid! Heh." She smiled nervously.

"Oh I'll be the judge of that." Calhoun remarked, putting her down. "What were you doing behind the rocks there kid?"

"U-Uh um…just playing. Curiosity, you know how it is."

"I know it kills cats."

"Well, good thing I'm not a cat I guess!"

"You can honestly tell me you're not a spy?"

Her eyes darted left, "Yup!"

"Well that's all I need to hear." Calhoun turned away as Vanellope reached into her pocket then immediately whipped around again her own gun ready.

Vanellope dropped the taser as she shielded her face. "Aaaah! Don't shoot!"

Calhoun smiled in victory, "I like kids. As easy to read as a picture-heavy magazine."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Vanellope whimpered. "Y-Y-You're looking for a guy called Ralph right? I know where he is!"

"Well," Calhoun grinned, putting her gun away. "That was easy."

Felix and the ghosts trembled at the sight, all of them just as frightened as Vanellope.

* * *

Ralph just sighed in the darkness of the fungeon, shaking his head at everything that's happened so far.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" A voice whispered knocking Ralph out of his gloom. Vanellope then started unlocking his chains.

Ralph let the heavy metal slide off of him as he stretched out his arms. Vanellope backflipped in front of him after she finished unlocking the last one. "Look Ralph…" She kept her back to him. "I'm sorry for everything. I wasn't sure if I could trust you because… I've never trusted anybody before. But everything you've done so far has been for my sake, and…I at least owe you for that. I know you can't forgive me after all this but-"

Her eyes went wide as Ralph gently knocked the top of her head with his knuckles. He grinned, "Who's the stinkbrain now?"

She continued to look at him in surprise, but then gave him a knowing grin when let his words sink in. "Ok! The coast is clear!" She called out behind him.

Felix then shimmied in through the crawlspace Vanellope opened, followed by the three ghosts and Calhoun, who Felix helped up. Ralph stared on in surprise then looked down at Vanellope. "You…Did you call them for help?"

"No, they came for you on their own. Just in time to help me break you out of here."

"Really?"

"Well, she did need some persuasion that we were on your side." Calhoun commented as she readied her gun.

"What!?"

"It's ok, it's ok Ralph. I deserved it."

Before Ralph could say anything else Felix approached. "Sooo~" He whistled. "You're supposed to be from my game. Err…_our_game. It's nice to finally meet you Ralph!" He held out his hand. "I'm Fix-it Felix Jr."

"Well, err…" He scratched the back of his head. "This is kind of weird, but nice to meet you too Felix." He said as he reached out his hand only for the smaller man to pull him into a hug.

"We're…friends right?"

"Y-Yeah…?"

"The way I'm treated in Niceland is the same way you're treated isn't it?"

Ralph looked down, "Well, not anymore. But yes, that was how they treated me."

"…I'm sorry."

Ralph patted his back. "Don't be. It's not your fault." He smiled. "You used to be the only one that actually treated me with some respect. Besides, I don't know how you endure any of it; if you're anything like my Felix you'd be too nice."

"Nothing they say_ isn't _true."

"That doesn't mean they should say it! Felix, you're the hero of the game! That doesn't mean you have to cater to their every demand and carry the whole game on your shoulders. Your job doesn't make you who you are."

Felix's lip trembled as he blinked back tears. "It's…it's really ok?"

"Hey, the game isn't going to fall apart just because you don't fix Gene's pipes for a night. Let him worry about his own issues for once."

Felix gave a small chuckle. "He does have a lot of issues."

"Right? Right!"

"Ralph, thank you." Felix gave him a calm smile. "For the things you said, and…" He looked to the side. "For being there, in your reality. The other me probably doesn't realize how much he needs you, so for his sake I'll say it. Thank you for being there for me Ralph."

"Oh brother, are we done with the love fest in here or what?" Vanellope complained. "We don't have much time you know!"

Calhoun cocked her gun as she went to watch the door while the ghosts went up to Ralph. "We were so worried about you Ralph! And we're so sorry about all of this!" Pinky cried.

"How are you interacting with everyone?!" Inky asked in a panic. "That's not supposed to happen!"

"I don't know!" Ralph argued, "Turbo did something-"

"TURBO?!" Felix gasped in surprise.

"It's a long story," Ralph answered, understanding the confusion. "Can you guys just fix me now?"

"I d-don't know if we can! Blinky!" Inky called his brother to attention. The red ghost started spinning rapidly around Ralph.

Ralph shut his eyes tight hoping that something would happen, but when he opened them he was still in the Sugar Rush fungeon.

"Again!" Inky commanded as Blinky spun around the demolition man even faster. Eventually all three ghosts started spinning around him until they were dizzy and fading in and out of 'vulnerable' mode.

"It's no use!" Pinky complained. "What are we going to do?!"

Ralph adopted a look of determination on his face as he touched the back wall of the fungeon. "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" He yelled as he easily punched through the thick stone. He looked down at Vanellope. "C'mon, we have a finish line to cross!"

* * *

Ralph and Vanellope were driving in the Royal Racer while Calhoun, Felix, and the ghosts kept up with her hoverboard.

"Let's keep this short and simple kid, just cross that finish line and everything will be the way it should be."

"Got it!"

"Do you now?" Came a voice from beside them was was too close for comfort.

Ralph and Vanellope looked through the candy cane trees to see a kart rapidly heading at them. It had just made contact with the ground as some quick-thinking on Vanellope's part made her swerve the kart away.

Ralph just blinked as he saw King Candy's new kart, it was similar to Vanellope's, his Vanellope's, beloved kart. The mismatch of candy and confections, except this time the unnatural combination looked methodical and more threatening.

"You like?" King Candy asked as he rammed into his old kart, almost causing Ralph to lose his balance. "Made it myself."

"You mean hacked it yourself!" Ralph protested as he swung their kart into King Candy's, it barely left a scratch. "Uh-oh…" He turned to call for help, "CALHOUN! FELIX!" As he got a better view of what was behind him he saw they were busy fighting off King Candy's army.

"You're on your own for now Wrecker!" She answered as she swung her gun into a devil dog.

King Candy took advantage of their distraction and rammed into their kart with full force. The kart started to slow down.

"No nonono!" Vanellope protested as she pressed on the gas pedal harder.

"FELIX!" Ralph yelled, "Throw me your hammer!"

The repairman threw his signature item at Ralph without a moment's hesitation. Ralph caught it mid-turn as they lost the others in the gumdrop hills. "Ok…ok…what does he say? I'm gonna fix-No no…"

"Ralph! Hurry!" Vanellope reprimanded as she tried to keep their kart on the road.

"Ok! Ok!" Ralph stuck a Felix pose. "I can fix it!" He declared as he brought the hammer down full force on the kart. Instantly the dents and damages healed and the kart was automatically brought back up to full speed.

"Yahoo-hoo-hoo~!" Vanellope said joyfully as they caught up with King Candy. They began tailing him as the draft he was cutting allowed them to catch up. The face he made as they were neck and neck was priceless causing Ralph and Vanellope to shoot him some cocky glares of their own.

"You…you…" King Candy started fuming, "YOU GLITCHES! THINK YOU CAN CATCH UP WITH ME?!" He started putting all he had into the kart, but Ralph and Vanellope were determined to keep riding his tail.

Suddenly King Candy slammed on the brakes and pulled behind them. Ralph and Vanellope looked at each other in surprise. "Whu…?" It was then that King Candy rammed into the back of their kart causing Ralph to fall back onto his kart.

"Ahh!" Ralph yelled as King Candy revved his motor, pushing his kart in deeper. Ralph tried to stop him by swinging his arms, but it was difficult for him to keep his balance at the same time. Eventually Ralph grabbed his collar as he tried to push himself up.

"LET GO YOU BOO REJECT!"

Ralph refused to let go as he sat up, just now noticing the fractured bits of code coming from both him and the King. King Candy tried to fight him off, but Ralph gave one final shove revealing his true identity. He glared at the newly revealed character "**Turbo**."

Before Turbo could answer Calhoun's hoverboard flew out and slammed into the side of his kart, pushing him aside. Ralph blinked in surprise until he remembered the task at hand. "Now's our chance kid!"

"Right!" She answered, just as the finish line appeared in sight.

"You're going to die Ralph!" Turbo shouted as Calhoun and Felix grabbed ahold of him. "The second she crosses that finish line you'll be just as finished ahahaha!"

Vanellope slammed on the breaks right before they could touch the checkered line.

"Kid?"

"I'm sorry Ralph, I can't do it. It's not worth it if I might lose you!"

"We don't know if he's right."

"I still can't take the risk." She said sadly, turning around to hug Ralph. "I'm sorry."

He returned the hug. "I'm sorry too kid." He replied as he stepped out of the kart, then turned around to push it across the finish line.

Vanellope suddenly looked up, "RALPH!" She protested as she started floating up surrounded by sparkles. "W-What's going on?"

As Vanellope started her transformation, Ralph noticed his own body pixelating and distorting.

"What do you know, he actually was telling the truth this time…"

* * *

Ralph opened his eyes and saw a misty world of nothing. "Hello?"

His voice echoed.

_"Is this purge-atory or something?"_

"Wakka."

Ralph snapped to attention. "Hello, is someone there? Hello!"

"WakkaWakka."

He looked around and saw nothing. "Where am I?"

"Wakka?"

"That's not an answer!"

Some of the haze cleared to reveal a round, yellow figure.

"PACMAN?!" Ralph shouted in surprise, "What are you doing here!?"

"Wak, wak."

"…That's not an answer."

"Wakka."

"Wait." The pieces started to come together in Ralph's mind. "You're the ghosts boss aren't you? You sent them to do this to me didn't you?!"

"Wakka."

Ralph glared, "Say something understandable!"

Pacman then glowed and transformed into his modern incarnation.

"AAH!" Ralph shielded his eyes.

"You're the one who wanted to talk."

"…Fine." He lowered his arm slowly, "I can't get used to your new form, it gives me the willies."

Pacman shrugged. "So why are you here?"

"That's what I should be asking you!"

"Actually, I don't have to be here at all."

"Then why are you here?"

"You have to figure it out."

Ralph groaned, "Have you been hanging around that Flynn guy doing zen or something? I could never understand you guys!"

"I believe you blamed everything that happened on a 'paperwork error'?"

Ralph's eyes widened, "You don't mean you did this on purpose did you?!"

"You stole my cherries before."

"JUST FOR THAT!?"

"I take my cherries very seriously you know."

"Ooh, you!" Ralph growled as he tried to punch the anthropomorphic ball only for his fist to go straight through him. "Huh?" He tried punching him a couple more times causing Pacman to cross his arms in annoyance. "I'm a ghost again?"

"It's better than being purged isn't it?

"But how?"

Pacman grinned as he pointed to Ralph's pocket, "You never returned Felix's hammer did you?" Ralph pulled out said hammer as Pacman continued talking. "You sure are a lucky one Ralph."

"So what happens now?"

"You're the one with the hammer, you tell me."

Ralph thought for a moment. "Well, I do have to return it. Plus if I don't go back Pinky and Vanellope probably won't stop crying."

"That's true."

"Ralph clutched the hammer tightly. "One more thing Pacman," He turned to him, "Will you PLEASE go back to your original form?"

There was a puff of smoke. "Wakka?"

"Thank you." Ralph sighed as he hit himself with the hammer.

"I was joking about the cherries by the way."

"Wait wha-?"

* * *

Vanellope and the ghosts were sobbing on the ground where Ralph was as Calhoun looked stoic and Felix held his hat in his hand.

"He was…truly a hero, wasn't he?" Felix said softly.

"Not really." Calhoun answered, "He was an idiot."

The ground started flashing as Ralph re-materialized.

"RALPH!" Pinky exclaimed excitedly. "You're not dead!"

Blinky nudged her, "That's not what you say when someone comes back to life!"

Ralph sat up slowly, "Hey guys."

Vanellope, Felix, and Calhoun looked around. "Ralph? Where? Is he here?"

Ralph stared at them in their confusion. "I…I'm in ghost mode again aren't I?"

"Looks like it." Inky said sadly.

"On the bright side, we can fix everything now! Isn't that great?"

"Hold on, hold on!" Vanellope interrupted, "Don't we get a say in any of this?"

"Why? It's not like any of you are going to remember-Ow!" This time Pinky got to nudge Blinky.

Vanellope walked up to the space the ghosts were talking to. She tried touching the space, but nothing happened. She wasn't a glitch anymore, they both weren't; yet for some reason that made her kind of sad. "Ralph…It looks like you were right, I really am a Princess! And Sugar Rush really is going to be alright, but…but…" She started hitting the air. "Don't you ever do that again Ralph! We really thought we had lost you." She reached into her pocket and smiled, relieved that it was still there. She pulled out a yellow, star-shaped sugar cookie and left it at the ground for him. "Thanks for everything Persimmon-Pickel. I'm really going to miss you."

Ralph tried to pick up the cookie but it kept going through him. He could only smile at her.

Felix was next to step up. Once Ralph saw him he remembered that he still had his hammer and signaled Inky to give it to him. "Tell Felix that his hammer saved me. In the end he's still the true hero." Ralph joked.

Inky repeated the message to Felix, causing the man to clutch his hammer and start tearing up. "I'm happy you're ok Ralph. Thanks again, for everything." He tried to awkwardly pat the air and Ralph smiled at the gesture.

Calhoun was the last to step up. She gave him a simple nod. "A hero does what he has to do no matter what. That said, it was still unfair for you to make the sacrifice play without warning." She glared at the thin air, still managing to scare Ralph. "Next time you want to do something like that I swear I'm going to make you wish you stayed in Purge-atory or whatever you went."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Ralph stuttered even though she couldn't hear him. He whispered to Inky, "When you guys reset everything, none of them will remember any of this will they?"

"They shouldn't."

"G-Great."

"Ready to go back Ralph?" Pinky asked brightly.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"O-k!" They all spun around him causing his world to go dark.

* * *

Ralph awoke in a familiar bed, a bed carved from his favorite stump in his home. He quickly checked his face and body. "I'm back!" He then felt the wall, "And I'm not a ghost!"

He stepped outside and realized it was quiet, the residents of Niceland still sleeping. He smiled, "It's so good to be home."

Ralph then looked down and noticed a small box on his porch. He picked it up and read the note attached to it.

"Hey Bubble-breath!" Ralph could hear Vanellope's voice as if she was there dictating the note to him. "You were dead asleep when I came by. Don't you know you have to be polite for a President? So anyway, I'm just going to leave this here for you. -Vanellope."

He chuckled as he opened the box and found a familiar yellow-frosted, sugar cookie star inside. However, it was a little different from the one he had seen before. There was some text scribbled on it and he held it up closer to read it.

_"You don't need to have wings to be an angel."_

He smiled, wiping a tear from his eye. He then found a note under the present.

"And if you tell anyone I said this I'm going to kick you in the knee."

Ralph continued to smile as he closed the box and looked up at the night sky. "Merry Christmas guys."


End file.
